Fierce and almost dangerously scary, he looks out of his eyes, and at full blast he screams his excitement into the room. Yes, we will all know and hear it, and never forget it: he bought the estate and cherry orchard! He, Lopachin, son of a serf, is now lord and master of the place where his parents and grandparents were always the subordinates and exploited.
In the performance la cerisaie† which the Portuguese director Tiago Rodrigues made based on Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard, this moment of tortured euphoria is a tipping point. Especially since the role of Lopachin is played by the black actor Adama Diop, with which the reference to slavery cannot be misunderstood. This somewhat unpolished, deliberately messy and rather deconstructed version of The Cherry Orchard gets a huge load here. Incidentally, there are more actors of color walking around in the ensemble, regardless of role, rank or position, but the fact that Diop plays the provoked farmer’s son is without a doubt a statement.
This French production of The Cherry Orchard, the opening performance of the Festival d’Avignon in 2021, was performed last weekend at the Holland Festival, and had another attraction: Isabelle Huppert. The French star actress played Lyubov, the disgraced owner of the estate and cherry garden. In Chekhov’s play she represents the ruling class, which longs for times gone by and knows that they will never return. After spending six years with a wrong lover in Paris, she returns penniless to the home of her childhood in Russia. A house with a beautiful old cherry garden, but also the house where grief lives: her son drowned in the river next to the house a long time ago.
When she returns, surrounded by a rustling, colorful entourage, she is confronted with the grim reality: Lopachin wants her to cut down her cherry orchard so that summer cottages can be built that generate money. But she refuses – or at least: she doubts. In the end Lopachin buys the garden himself and at the end of the piece the cherry trees are still destroyed. The new era has irreversibly arrived. Lyubov leaves for Paris again, back to her lover.
Isabelle Huppert plays her part with the meanwhile for her characteristic, almost careless, lightning-fast way of speaking. She flutters across the stage like a forgotten diva, letting out shrieks, and in the meantime puts great musicality in her treatment of the text. At first she seems indifferent to what is happening around her, but once her fate is sealed, she finally realizes that her time is up. Wonderful how Huppert then picks up and her bewilderment gives way to resignation.
Director Tiago Rodrigues pulls out all the stops not to stage a classic Chekhov. Large pieces of scenery slide back and forth on the immense stage, on which there are light poles with numerous chandeliers. Three musicians play loud guitar music, and now and then a sweet song, such as the melancholic a va changer† In the large party scene, the actors dance back and forth almost silently in a trance. The confrontation between Lyubov and Petya, the eternal student and do-gooder, is a highlight: a clash between two divergent images of man. Also beautiful are the doomed attempts of a number of characters to embrace love; Chekhov is not only about money worries and past glories, but also, and perhaps above all, about love in all stages.
In terms of play style, this one is cherry garden quite unbalanced. The acting is full and sometimes screaming, and because the many characters constantly roam the stage, it is difficult to fathom who is who, no matter how many times you may have seen this piece. In Rodrigues’ direction, everything works towards that one, all-determining moment: the cherry orchard is sold, serf becomes owner, slave becomes master. Then all the scenery, chairs and chandeliers disappear and only a bare stage in cold light remains. Lopachin then addresses the audience directly and says there’s really no point in playing the last act anymore. Yet they do so, and it becomes a nicely settled farewell ritual.
All in all, this remarkable cherry garden a changing performance that irritates, evokes admiration and yet moves here and there through all the hassle. Actually like life itself. Actually as Chekhov must have intended.
The Portuguese theater maker Tiago Rodrigues (45) is not only a director, but also an actor; in the Netherlands and Belgium he is quite well known because he played for Tg Stan for a number of years. In 2015, he became Artistic Director of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon. Major performances of him have been shown here before, such as Antony & Cleopatra during the Holland Festival 2019 and sopro †Breath) during the festival Brandhaarden of ITA (2020). That last performance was about the back of the theater; the main character was the prompter who had worked there for a lifetime. Last year it was announced that Rodrigues will artistically direct the Festival d’Avignon, starting with the 2023 edition. Because his performances can be seen at all major theater festivals, he is also known as the ‘star of the European Theater’.
The Cherry Orchard (La cerisaie)
Theater
By Anton Chekhov, direction Tiago Rodrigues, co-production Festival d’Avignon.
10/6, Holland Festival, International Theater Amsterdam.